Review: "Blink" by Bradley Convissar

"Blink"

by Bradley Convissar

Genre: Contemporary/Fantasy/Horror

Reading Grade: Adult (flash fiction)

Publication Date: November 8, 2011

Source: Kindle freebie

Age Rating: 15+

| Amazon | 

Meet dentist Brian Mallory. He's always considered himself a grounded man. A rational man. A reasonable man. But what he finds in the mouth of nineteen year old Amy Gladwell one afternoon during a routine cleaning makes him begin to question his own sanity.

It's amazing how quickly everything can change in a a blink of an eye.

From the author of the Pandora's Children collection of short stories, the novellas Dogs of War and King of the Merge, and the short story “Last Dance of a Black Widow,” comes “Blink,” a chilling, 3,500 word short story about a simple day gone horribly wrong. 

 

My Review

I found this flash fiction for free in the Kindle store and it caught my eye based on a few reviews stating how shocking and horrific the big plot twist is. I read the premise and found myself wanting to discover just what these reviewers were talking about. Plus, I had the time to read something only 3,500 words long, and had the money to buy something free—just barely. <wink>

But, I gotta say, the big scary reveal that is supposed to freak me out really didn't. As the main character realizes he's seeing something really bizarre in the tongue ring of his female dental patient, he feels disturbed. He examines it a little more closely, and I had an idea of what I thought it most likely was. Then, he finds out exactly what the weird thing in her mouth is, and it ends up being exactly what I figured. Not much of a surprise for me. Had it been something I never saw coming, then I would have been shocked, of course.

So, while this story was very well-written and held my full attention from beginning to end, it just didn't 'wow' me the way I expected it to. Still, it was good. I'm not sure there is a sequel, so don't expect the story to continue elsewhere, even though it seems like it ought to, judging by how it ends. But, read the story and see, when you find out what the tongue ring really is, if it surprises you, or not.

My score: 3.5 stars out of 5. (I liked it.)

Review: Hunger by Jackie Kessler

Hunger (The Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Rider's Quartet, #1)

by Jackie Morse Kessler

Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: October 2010

Source: local library

Rated: Teen (14+)

Amazon.com

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to battle her own inner demons? 

My Review

This book turned out to be very different from what I had expected. I read half of it feeling like it wasn't satisfying, or was missing something, but as I continued, I realized why I thought that at first. It wasn't because there was anything wrong with it. It was because I was expecting an entertaining fantastical escape, but this book becomes almost literary, actually, more serious. Once I realized that, my entire attitude about the book changed. Suddenly, this book took on a whole new meaning.

The protagonist, Lisabeth Lewis, is an anorexic seventeen-year-old who meets Death, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and he tells her that she is the new Famine, one of the four Horsemen. She eventually gets around to her duties and learns what she can do with her new powers, and in the process, begins to open her eyes to understanding her own psychosis.

But, don't for one second think this book is just some after-school special on how anorexia is bad. That's not what this is about, at least not solely. Lisabeth travels to parts of the world where she sees how famine shows up in the lives of real people who have no choice but to starve, and realizes that she has the power to help them. In helping them, she overcomes her real problem: her own self-centeredness.

Lisabeth is self-centered in the negative way, the way in which a person thinks they are the worst thing ever, rather than the best thing ever. This story is about how that, too, is just as bad a neurosis to have as the other extreme version. Seeing that other people suffer from starvation teaches her to look outside of herself and quit being so blind to others.

It turns out that overcoming this problem helps Lisabeth to eventually get the real kind of help she needs. But, the truth is, everyone can relate to being too self-centered. It's an issue that speaks to all of humankind, and not just to modern women. That's why this book might not be what you expect when you read it. But, you'll find it is a wonderful work of literature that magically speaks volumes of the human condition in only a scant 174 pages.

Read this one with your critical-reading cap on. If you like to analyze speculative literature, especially the kind that deals with important contemporary issues, you'll get a feast out of Hunger by Jackie Kessler.

My score: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meany

Bloodthirsty 

by Flynn Meany

Genre: Contemporary/Parody/Comedy

Reading Grade: YA

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: October 2010

Source: public library

Rated: Teen (14+)

Amazon.com

Some vampires are good. Some are evil. Some are faking it to get girls. Awkward and allergic to the sun, sixteen-year-old Finbar Frame never gets the girl. But when he notices that all the female students at his school are obsessed with a vampire romance novel called Bloodthirsty, Finbar decides to boldly go where no sane guy has gone before--he becomes a vampire, minus the whole blood sucking part. With his brooding nature and weirdly pale skin, it's surprisingly easy for Finbar to pretend to be paranormal. But, when he meets the one girl who just might like him for who he really is, he discovers that his life as a pseudo-vampire is more complicated than he expected. This hilarious debut novel is for anyone who believes that sometimes even nice guys—without sharp teeth or sparkly skin—can get the girl.

My Review

Bloodthirsty really isn't “paranormal” fiction, but because it at least mocks vampire fiction the same way Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin mocks 18^th century gothic literature, or even how Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes mocks knight-errant fiction (popular in his time), I feel this book belongs on my blog. And, I just really wanted to read a book with a premise like this one.

This book was hilarious pretty much the entire way through! I think it took me longer to read because I had to pause to laugh so many times. The protagonist is Finbar Frame, a 16-year-old boy, also called “Finn”. He goes to an all-boys Catholic school in Indiana and is basically considered a total loser/geek. He has no friends, and to top it off, he has a very good-looking, popular jock fraternal twin brother named Luke who is his opposite in every way. That's so not fair!

They move to New York City for their junior year of high school, and, thankfully, he and Luke end up going to different schools. Finbar starts to notice that vampire romance fiction is really, really popular with all the girls at school ('cause it's in everyone's face 24/7. Even we know how that is). He also notices how a few not-so-right-in-the-head girls actually believe vampires exist. Or, at least, they can be made to believe that quite easily. He decides to use his own weaknesses, very pale skin, being a loner, having a sun allergy, to create an opportunity to make the girls at his new school believe he is a real vampire. This guy's out to get some tail however he can.

He ends up making some friends-that-are-girls for the first time in his life, and discovers something perfectly befitting the after-school special: that your real friends will always like you for who you are on the inside. Aww... But, it really is a great story. The characters are colorful and realistic. Finn is super funny and his mom is hysterical—nearly worthwhile enough to make me read the book solely for her (although, she's a minor character).

This book is great for those who hate vampire fiction and are tired of the Twilight fad. But, it's also great for those who love it, so long as they don't take their sparkly vamps too seriously.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars